Reactive improvement of environmental policies: lessons from the Mariana and Brumadinho disasters

The State is not always able to proactively improve environmental policies. Eventually, policy improvements are a result of disasters that expose pre-existing problems. This situation reflected in the state Minas Gerais (Brazil), where, after failures Fundão and B1 tailings dam, Mariana Brumadinho, several problems dam safety emergency policies were exposed. study had twofold objective: 1) identify mechanisms used by government policies, 2) understand how Brumadinho’s affected Based on semi-structured interviews regulatory analysis, revealed has been predominantly reactive controlling Additionally, it was observed catalysed learning process culminated potentially better